From top to bottom: Sally and her friend Martina. Sally and her husband Craig at the top of the ski area.

When I think of Switzerland, I immediately think of two things: mountains and chocolate. On my recent visit, I managed to get my fill of both. My husband and I flew to Zurich to see my friend (and Zurich native) Martina. After a couple of days sightseeing in the city we drove up to a small mountain town called Feldis, about an hour and a half south east of Zurich. We left the car down in the valley and took a tram up to the picturesque village that is home to nearly as many goats and cows as people, and has a small, one-lift ski area.

The scenery was so breathtaking that I could hardly put down the camera. Everything from the view outside my bedroom window to the panorama of the Alps visible during the tram ride was worthy of a photo op. We spent a gorgeous sunny Saturday exploring the area, including a hike up to Mutta, a 1974 meter peak that is also the top of the ski hill. Despite temperatures in the 70s that made me wish I was wearing shorts, we encountered several snow fields on the way up. But at the top, the snow had all melted and it was warm enough for us to relax and enjoy a picnic lunch before heading back down into town.

To top off our day, we stopped for a latte and a snack at Mira Todi, a hotel, restaurant and, most importantly, bakery. While we sat on the terrace and looked at the mountain we had just hiked, I had the chance to indulge in my other Swiss passion, chocolate. The owner of Mira Todi makes a homemade chocolate bar called Schoggi-Staengeli that is well worth the trans-Atlantic plane ride. And while I could bring home only pictures to remember the mountains by, I made sure to stock up on plenty of yummy Swiss chocolates before leaving the country. Don’t tell Customs, but my suitcase when I arrived back home was filled with enough Schoggi-Staengeli to last me awhile!

Tags: on the move, Sally Wadyka

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 2:27 pm and is filed under On The Move. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.